Ok peeps, starting a new line of gorgeous, low fat, high fiber, no risk, no trans-fat, deluxe, homemade, guaranteed, designer, celebrity endorsed themed blog spots tonight. Welcome to the first edition of \'Fro Recommends where I take time from my not-so-busy schedule to randomly pic-...er...carefully analyze the current market and select a title sure to please anyone with enough cognitive reasoning skills to place the disc into their console! Let's start this first issue right, with an IP bound towards action-horror greatness.
'Fro Recommends: Dead Space
Title:Dead Space
Genre:Action Horror
Developer:EA Redwood Shores
Publisher:EA
Rating:M for Mature
Release Date:October 14th, 2008
Platforms:Playstation 3, PC, and Xbox 360
Plot:
You take up the space boots of Issac Clarke, a miner working under the largest giant mining ship operator company Concordance Extraction Corporation (CEC), who receives a mechanical failure S.O.S. call from the USS Ishimura, sending you to investigate. Ships like the Ishimura are built to extract ore from crumbling planets, and you along with two teammates from CEC are bused off to the derelict mining vessel to investigate. After docking you are separated from your crew and soon encounter a race of homicidal aliens of grotesque nature (Necromorphs), and must fight to survive your way back to some form of safety.
Strategic Dismemberment:
The most toted gameplay element, this mechanic is central to the design, and your survival, in Dead Space. Players cannot kill some enemies with random gunshots or even headshots. Clarke must figure out the monster's weakness by its movement and attacks, then shot off specific limbs to impede the creature before moving in for the final blow. The game later uses this to its advantages, as shooting off necessary limbs may make some aliens render an automatic attack that stuns Clarke, or limb hacking that worked in the past may render useless in later parts of the game.
Atomsphere:
Dead Space utilizes the usual creepy sounds and intense, leap-out scare moments common to this genre, but aspires to something more in the long run. The IP comes equipped with a machine-oriented layer of background sounds as an over layer to the adrenaline-building soundtrack, and keeps monster placement (or lack of monster placement) in detailed locations for the most effective scare possible. Monster movement has been captured with the intent to give the player a sense of demonic and unnatural vibes towards all your foes.
Gravity Gameplay:
Zero G and other gravitational conditions come into play often in Dead Space, where players will combat enemies and/or solve puzzles using Clarke's arsenal of anti-gravity boots and other devices. EA has confirmed that players will be able to have parts of stages be outside in deep space, where gravity plays a role.
Arsenal:
Aside from gravitational equipment, Clarke has at his disposal weapons unique to Dead Space, all which stem from usage in mining duties. His regular gun shots a high density energy bar at enemies, originally designed specifically to get through multiple layers of rock. More famously, the player will take control of a gun that temporarily slows down time, presumably used originally to help miners avoid incoming rock slides. Developers have confirmed other weapons to be included in the game, but none have been revealed as of yet.
Dead Space: The Comic
EA has released a six-issue prequel story in the form of a comic book on the Dead Space mythos. The art for the comic has been done by Ben Templesmith, famous for his work on the Silent Hill based comic, Dying Inside, as well comic versions of 30 Days of Night and Hellspawn. The comic is penned both by Templesmith and Antony Johnston who has worked extensively with Alan Moore in his work.
Dead Space: Downfall
EA partnered up with Starz to deliver another canon media piece with the feature length animated movie, Dead Space: Downfall. The movie will be animated by Film Roman, who have drawn both King of the Hill and the Simpsons for Fox. The film is due to be released on October 28th, although no word has been released on if that will change along with the game's updated release date.
News Stories
- Dead Space becomes a unique game with its announcement to release a week ahead of schedule, moving the title to store shelves on October 14th instead of the originally announced October 21st. No word yet on how this will affect the release date of the animated film.
- Necromorphs can be broken done from its Latin roots to the transformed dead.
- This IP, like many coming out recently, will not feature a character HUB on screen, in an effort to keep the atomsphere alive.
- This is Executive Producer Glen Schofield's first major video game project.
- A limited edition version of the first Dead Space comic, with an alternate cover, was made available at Wondercon
- All Dead Space comics are available for 2.99 USD at comic book stores around the world.
Outro
This post will be updated if sufficient news is released between now and its release date. Sections will also be added for reviews on the IP. Keep checking back here for up-to-date coverage on EA's action horror game, Dead Space.
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